How Montauk Party-Boat Trips Work: The Boats, the Docks, the Fares and the Fine Print

A party boat, also called an open boat or head boat, sells fishing by the person, not by the boat. You buy a ticket or reserve a spot at the rail, fish alongside strangers, and the crew supplies bait and usually the tackle. For someone who doesn't own a boat or much gear, it's the easiest way to fish Montauk. The fleet here is also unusually varied. There are four-hour family trips inside the local grounds, all-day runs to Block Island, and multi-day offshore voyages.

This guide covers the open boats that sail from Montauk Harbor, where to find them, and the practical details the operators themselves publish. Every price, time and rule below comes from the operator's website as it read on Sept. 27, 2026. Operators change these without notice, so treat them as a starting point and confirm with the boat.

The boats and where they dock

Our party-boat directory, last verified Sept. 26, 2026, lists these Montauk open boats and open-boat hybrids. Most of the fleet ties up along West Lake Drive on the west side of Lake Montauk. The rest are at Star Island, in the middle of the harbor. (Our harbor primer explains the layout.)

Operator websites: Viking Fleet · Ebb Tide · Lazybones · Miss Montauk II · Fin Chaser · Montauk Star

Getting there. Miss Montauk II's location page gives directions that work for the whole West Lake Drive row. Take Route 27 east into the village. Go around the traffic circle and turn onto Edgemere Road heading north, past the Long Island Rail Road station. After a couple of miles you reach a stop sign at the harbor. Montauk Marine Basin is a right and then a quick left from there.

What the trips cost, as posted

Some things aren't in the ticket price. Miss Montauk II charges "a $10 rental fee" for rods on most trips, with "Bait & tackle" included. It adds a 4% processing fee for online bookings and says in-person card payments run "roughly 3% more than the cash discount." Ebb Tide says everything is provided on its half-day trips and "is available for a small fee on All Day Trips." Lazybones says its price "includes all fishing equipment and bait. Gratuity is not included." The Fin Chaser lists a fishing license, loaner rod and reel, and bait as included on its open-boat trips.

Reservations, walk-ons and check-in

The operators handle this differently:

• Ebb Tide: "Reservations are always recommended," online or by phone or text. Boarding begins an hour before sailing, and guests with reservations "must be ready to board no later than 30 minutes before sailing time." Open-boat tickets "may be cancelled up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund."
• Miss Montauk II: Trips are "LIMITED by Reservation," but "if the trip is not fully booked ~ walk-ons are welcome." Online bookings require full payment. Phone reservations are held with a card, and a no-show is charged unless you cancel at least 24 hours ahead. You pick your spot on the rail. The site posts an assigned-spot diagram.
• Lazybones: "Reservations are STRONGLY recommended," and "The only way to make a reservation is by phone."
• Viking Fleet: Books online through its ticketing page. It also posts schedule changes on its Alerts page.

Do you need a fishing license?

Usually not. For saltwater, New York uses a Recreational Marine Fishing Registry for anglers 16 and older (NYSDEC's page lists no enrollment fee, only optional printing and mailing fees). That same registry page says you do not need to register if you are "Fishing aboard an appropriately licensed party or charter boat in the marine and coastal district." Ebb Tide's FAQ says the same thing in plainer words: "a fishing license is not required for persons on a Party Fishing Boat." If you're 16 or older and will also fish from the beach on the same trip, you do need to enroll. Our regulations primer explains how.

Tackle and bait

On most local trips the boat supplies a rod, reel, rig and bait. If you bring your own, Viking publishes a tackle list by trip type. Some examples from that page: for porgies, a light rod with 20–30 lb test, 1/0–3/0 hooks, 5–8 oz sinkers, and clam bait provided. For half-day fluke, 3/0–5/0 hooks and 5–8 oz sinkers, with squid and spearing provided. For blackfish, a medium to heavy rod, 40–50 lb line, 8–16 oz sinkers, and green crabs provided "when a/v." Miss Montauk II says anglers who bucktail for fluke use 4–12 oz sinkers, and that its special 12-hour fluke trips "can be 10 - 20 ounces of lead." Those weights reflect Montauk's deep, fast water. Bring what the boat recommends for the trip you booked.

What to bring, and what not to

The operators' own lists overlap a lot:

• Clothing: Ebb Tide says to bring "a jacket or sweatshirt even in summer as it is usually cooler on the water" and warns that flip-flops "are NOT recommended." The Fin Chaser asks for "Soft soled deck shoes or boots (no hard soled footwear)" and rain gear. For fall and winter, Miss Montauk II says to "Dress in layers" and "Wear boots."
• Food and drink: Ebb Tide has "a full service galley." Miss Montauk II doesn't: "Bring food & drinks for yourself, we do not have a galley. Beer is OK, no hard alchohol." The Fin Chaser bars smoking in the cabin, drugs and hard alcohol, "No exceptions."
• A cooler: Miss Montauk II recommends "a cooler with ice," which you can buy at Montauk Marine Basin, where it docks. The Fin Chaser caps coolers at "no more than 50 qts."
• Electronics: The Fin Chaser's rules say "No GPS or other position indicating equipment allowed on board."

The catch, the mates and the tip

Mates on most boats will fillet your fish. Ebb Tide says its mates "will be happy to fillet/clean your catch" and that "the crew does work for tips as a server or bartender does, 15-20% is customary." The Fin Chaser's group-charter rates exclude "20% tip for the mates" and fish cleaning. Many boats also run a "pool," a small optional contest for the biggest fish of the trip. Viking posts pool results with its daily reports, and Ebb Tide says everyone who sails is entered in its monthly contests. Nobody has to take part.

Keep the state's rules in mind before anything goes in the cooler. NYSDEC doesn't allow fluke to be filleted until they're brought to shore, apart from a narrow exception for bait strips. And a party- or charter-boat customer who keeps more than 30 scup between Sept. 1 and Oct. 31 "must obtain a dated original fare receipt from the licensed vessel." Hang on to your ticket.

Weather

Montauk trips get cancelled for wind more often than for rain. Ebb Tide says it "will sail in the rain if conditions are otherwise good." It says heavy winds may cancel a trip, and that it issues "a full refund, or credit for another trip." The Fin Chaser says weather cancellations "will be rescheduled" at the captain's discretion. As an example, on Sept. 27, 2026 the National Weather Service's coastal forecast for Moriches Inlet to Montauk Point carried a storm warning with northeast winds of 30 to 40 knots and seas of 12 to 16 feet. The Viking Fleet had cancelled all trips from Sept. 25 through Sept. 27. Check the NWS marine forecast and the boat's own site the night before.

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How we reported this. We compiled this guide on Sept. 27, 2026 from each operator's public website, NYSDEC's registry and regulations pages, and the National Weather Service. Boat names and docks were checked against the Montauk section of our party-boat directory (verified Sept. 26, 2026). We didn't call the operators, and nobody on our staff sailed on these boats for this piece. Operators: if something here is out of date, tell us and we'll fix it and note the change.

Sources (all accessed Sept. 27, 2026)

• Viking Fleet: https://vikingfleet.com/ ; Fishing Trips https://vikingfleet.com/fishing-trips/ ; About Our Boats https://vikingfleet.com/about-our-boats/ ; Tackle Recommendations https://vikingfleet.com/tackle-recommendations/ ; Alerts https://vikingfleet.com/alerts/
• Ebb Tide Fishing: https://www.ebbtidefishing.com/ ; Schedule & Rates https://www.ebbtidefishing.com/schedule-rates ; FAQs https://www.ebbtidefishing.com/faqs
• Lazybones, Trips & Pricing: https://www.lazybonesmontauk.com/trips-pricing
• Miss Montauk II: https://missmontauk.com/ ; Schedule https://missmontauk.com/schedule ; What to Bring https://missmontauk.com/&key=WHAT-TO-BRING ; Our Location https://missmontauk.com/our_location
• Fin Chaser: https://myfinchaser.com/
• NYSDEC, Recreational Marine Fishing Registry: https://dec.ny.gov/regulatory/permits-licenses/sporting-and-use/sporting/recreational-marine-fishing-registry
• NYSDEC, Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations: https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/saltwater-fishing/recreational-fishing-regulations
• National Weather Service, Coastal Waters Forecast ANZ350 (issued 4:43 a.m. EDT Sept. 27, 2026): https://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data/forecasts/marine/coastal/an/anz350.txt
• Montauk Fishing Journal boats & shops directory (/directory), Montauk section, last checked 2026-09-26